A new media campaign focuses on the state’s deteriorating bridges and roads to create political pressure to find a fix for a federal highway program teetering on insolvency, the Evening News and Tribune reports. Dubbed “Build Indiana 2010,” the campaign will feature billboards with an image of one of the 4,111 bridges in Indiana that have been rated “structurally deficient” or “functionally obsolete” by the Federal Highway Administration. The state campaign is part of the Laborers International Union of North America’s Build America 2010 public campaign launched in Colorado in June. It’s expected to spread to other states soon and boasts allies such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and industry associations. The article notes that a fix for the Highway Trust Fund isn’t easy and would require new revenue. “We need to put people back to work, fixing an infrastructure that’s falling apart,” said Frank DeGraw, an Indiana officer with the union. “You can’t tell me that we can come up with a way to bail out the banks, but not find the money to put Americans back to work.”

Minnesota

Knife River Materials Northern Minnesota Division will have a busy summer as it works on three large state Department of Transportation projects worth more than $30 million. According to Business Wire, the projects involve repaving sections of Minnesota Trunk Highways 11, 71, and 2, and include recycling the old asphalt in the new road surface. “This work showcases our paving expertise and is a great boost for our division,” said Doug Muyres, Knife River Materials president. “That expertise and our history of quality work allow Knife River Materials to gain new work in an increasingly competitive market.”

Missouri

The state of Missouri, Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards, Mine and Cave Safety and Health Section, and the Southeast Missouri Mine Safety Association presented Fred Weber Inc. with numerous awards for its dedication to safety and health. In addition to more than a dozen locations that did not have a lost-time accident during 2009, the following operations were recognized: Iron Mountain Trap Rock, Stripping, third place, contractor category; Fred Weber, Inc. New Melle, first place, small underground mine; Fred Weber, Inc. New Melle, second place, surface at an underground surface mine; Iron Mountain Trap Rock, first place, surface mine category large surface mine; Iron Mountain Trap Rock, second place, surface mill category large surface mill; and Fred Weber, Inc., North Stone, third place, surface mill category large surface mill. “Fred Weber, Inc. seeks to continually improve its health and safety programs,” says Jason Bish, vice president, safety. “It is this commitment that fosters the ‘We’ in Weber, and it is the ‘We’ in Weber that unites each individual to strive to get everyone home safely.”

Nebraska

A Werner sand and gravel pit located near Cedar Hollow School has applied to renew its conditional use permit. According to The Grand Island Independent, an attorney for the county asked for a special meeting on the permit matter so that it could be resolved before an Aug. 12 court hearing related to the company. Werner applied to add an asphalt batch plant in 2009, with more than 200 people — including parents of students at the school — objecting to the plant. The county board gave a one-year renewal on the sand and gravel operation until it made a final decision on the asphalt plant, which was later denied. Werner is suing the county regarding both the operation of an asphalt plant and asking the county to pay for profits lost during the time the permit was denied. That matter is expected to be heard in court this month.

New Jersey